Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Back to the Hills

It is nice to be back among the hills and valleys.  We are thankful for the peaceful journey home.  The weather was warm and sunny.The flowering trees were bursting with blooms alongside the Interstates we traveled.  Wisteria in South Carolina and crape myrtle, ornamental pear and forsythia in South and North Carolina and even up into PA.  We made a stop at cousin Janice and Phil's where even daffodils bloomed in their yard.  Never have we traveled home in March and seen anything so springlike in all the years we have made this migration. 



We arrived home on Saturday, a warm but cloudy day and had plenty of time to get unloaded before the rain came,...a gentle rain that helped to make things a bit more green.  The yellow and purple crocus and a few mini tulips planted by Alison, our neighbor, in our yard as a surprise a couple years ago, were all a bloom to welcome us. 

Angel had the wood stove going to take the chill and dampness out of the house after the winter.  Then the fun began !  As we were transferring the food from the cooler into the refrigerator and Dennis was in the basement turning on the water, a great tsunami came pouring forth from beneath the kitchen sink! We shouted and stomped our feet, yelling to shut off the water!  It seems there was a pipe under the sink that hadn't been closed before the water was turned on.  So after much sopping and mopping we were ready to try again. This time with no leaks or gushers. 

Our next surprise was finding sunflower seed casings all over the place!  A little mouse, and maybe his whole family had found a way into the place and gotten into the crock of sunflower seeds . How he managed to get into the crock, covered with a plastic cover, although not really tight, and with a basket of mittens, hats and scarves atop that cover...we'll never know.  But somehow he got in and out again after eating a LOT of seeds and leaving a lot of shells inside the crock and all around.  Must have been a real chore for such a little creature.  We thought it might have been a squirrel but came to the conclusion it was a mouse or two, or more!  We have never had this happen before and never had any sign of a mouse in the house. So next came the search for his place of entry. Dennis found a place where the little critter got in the cellar and another where he may have squeezed into an opening beneath the tub.  So he set about to secure the places of the breach and used some foamy stuff in a few suspicious places.  Hope this cures that problem.  

On Mon. night Colleen brought little Lizzie back to us!  How we missed that sweet little kitty. We were assured that she missed us just as much.  She was so happy to be back!  She took off after greeting us to see if there was any food in her dish....which I had made sure was ready for her. After having a little snack she waddled back to the kitchen and hopped up in my lap.  Later when all was quiet she did get a bit vocal, we imagine she was scolding us for leaving her for so long. Maybe next year she can migrate with us ??  I might have to ride on the roof, the only place not taken by some of our 'stuff', to make room for her and her cage.


I leave you with a thought for today.  "A smile is a light in the window of the soul, indicating that the heart is at home"  Brighten someone's day with YOUR wonderful smile!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Countdown!

Another really warm day here at Sunshine Village.  The pool is a busy place!  Such fun to splash and play like a bunch of kids!  All floating around on our noodles... water aerobics was a big hit this year.

Our St. Patrick's day dinner was a great time...potluck this time.  Lots of good old fashioned Irish food.  Great Corned beef and cabbage, potatoes col-something, tasty anyway!


Our clever decorating committee gals got right busy Sunday afternoon and now our 'Seasonal Tree'  is all decked out and ready for Easter.

I've been busy doing my spring sorting and cleaning, not to mention packing us up for the migration back north and home.  It keeps me inside and out of the pollen for awhile anyway!

Tomorrow we look forward to a visit from our daughter in-law and the grand kids from St. Cloud.  Our last visit for this season...face to face visit anyway.  Have to store up all the hugs which I can't get enough of! I have the fridge pretty well emptied out so we will go out to eat tomorrow at the local restaurant, the Hayseed Cafe, a great place just a mile away.  Best cornbread ever !   Not the usual southern kind with no sweetness, but really good, moist with a bit of sweet.  (I won't be getting the black eyed peas though! I haven't cultivated a taste for them yet!  I do like collards though.  These folks make a mean Ruben.
My collards, that I planted in Oct, did quite well.  My neighbor will get my pot of herbs.  She also looks after our two little flower beds.

I begin to get excited and impatient to be off about now.  But Thursday morning will come soon.  I'm eager to be back in the hills where that wonderful smell of woodsmoke drifts through my valley on a chilly spring morning or evening and the old wood stove is giving off silent warmth as the teakettle sings merrily. Maybe the robins will be hopping across the lawn.

My neighbor emails saying that we have a pretty yellow crocus up and blooming already!  Sure  hope we get there to see the bare ground and not have to unload on a cold blustery spring day.  It's been years since we have seen NO snow upon the ground as we arrive in late March.

If you are so inclined, say a prayer for our safe journey home.  Blessings.

The Seasonal Tree decked out for Easter

Adding this to yesterdays post.  Our youngest grandchildren, Nick and Mikayla
Here for a short visit and little pizza party.  We'll miss them this summer.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Let The Party Begin !


My soul longs, yes even faints for the courts of the Lord.  Ps. 84:2

I'd like to share with you  a short, yet exemplary little story from a book of Our Daily Bread stories I have been reading.  It is about a three year old boy who loved to go to Church and who became very upset, even to crying, when unable to attend.  He loved the Bible stories, games, songs and dinner every Sunday.  He would rush into his Sunday school class with much enthusiasm and loudly announce, "Let's get the party started!"  How the Lord must smile at this little boy's excitement about being in "God's House" and so eager to hear of Him !

This winter I have been attending a really big church, not like my small wonderfully close-knit, small village church back home in VT.  Many things are different in a big church.  So many people, a really big choir, a minister of music, a minister of evangelism, the senior pastor and a youth pastor. But the one thing we have in common, large or small is our love of our Lord, rejoicing and worshipping with fellow believers who gather eagerly, like the little boy, every Sunday to listen to God's work, sing praises to Him and to pray for each other.  So it's really just like home, just more people in a bigger town, in a bigger 'room' all joined together as God's children everywhere are.

So as I pack and plan for our return home next week, I am eager to see and be with all those I worship with on Sunday morning there.  I hope we can all be as eager as this little fellow to head for "God's House" on Sunday mornings and as eager to exclaim,  "let's get this party started !"

Ps. 84: 2    "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go to the house of the Lord."



Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Not One Spring...But Two !

Yesterday was a fun day.  We had some visitors, friends from home who live here in FL for 6 months along with other friends who are here for only two weeks...so far.  Nice to visit and catch up on all the news and of course, have a nice lunch together.

A couple of Snowbird families have packed up and left already with more to head home on Friday.  It sets me to thinking of home too.   I found a product to use for my very itchy eyes, thanks to a recommendation from a friend.  It is a homeopathic formula called Similason available at most drug stores and even Walmart carries it. It seems to work!! So much more than the dozens of others I have tried, including prescription eyedrops.  I am thrilled!!

This time of year, the sun rising in the east makes its way onto our Fl. room porch which is on the north side of our place.  I love the way it slants its rays in the windows in the early morning, sending in such a nice warm light! I can take my coffee, my crossword puzzle and my daily devotional reading out there and just bask in that warm light.  Mornings are cool here but with the windows closed (no pollen this way either) it is such a great place to be.  The birds like to stop by and sing from the trees just outside the windows, feed at the feeder and take a nice splashy bath in the birdbath.  A great place to meditate.  While doing just this, thoughts form and I reach for my pen.... to capture them before they fly away.  Thus this poem about Two Springs.

                 

                       

Not One Spring...But Two !

A Cardinal scolds, then changes his tune,
It's early morning, fresh and cool.
He's joined by the mourning doves
And the noisy little titmouse too,
They are making sure, in the world of birds,
That none are left to snooze.

I lay awake... lazy bones today,
To stretch and pray and plan my way
Into the gift of this fresh new day;
For here in the South, Spring has come.

Through the open window this March morn,
Wafts the wonderful scent of orange blossoms,
Their sweet, sweet fragrance
A soothing balm.

The caress of a soft breeze
Stirs the scent of the grass
Fresh cut yesterday,
And sets the wind chimes singing
And whispers through the evergreen.

I heard the morning paper
Go Plop onto the lawn,
As the paper girl flew by
Dispersing the news out of the windows,
Both sides!  Both hands, alternating the toss
With manning the steering wheel !

It is time to rise,
You are already stirring,
The coffe's made.
And so the day begins.

It is nearly time to migrate North again;
Where Spring is yet to come,
Where only subtle hints
Of warmth and grass appear
Around the Maple tree trunks
Where snow melts into the ground.
And where the gentle drip, drip of sap
Collects in pails, a promising sound of Spring.

 There's a stiff March wind about,
Chasing the clouds across the sky.
The nights are still cold; 
Some days, a dozen shades of gray.

I'll be home in time to visit 
The sugarhouse when the sap's a-boiling;
In time to watch as they draw off
That sweet, sweet syrup
Pale as liquid gold.
Maybe have some sugar on snow
And homemade donuts.
Or stir up some maple cream
While sitting with my face to the sun
In the lee of the woodpile 
On which I lean.
Oh Yes, I'll be home, 
Lord willing, before the robins,
Home in time to watch another Spring arrive.
                         Dottie Richardson 2012  

                                                                                                                       Sap's a-running!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Wow!  Is it HOT here today!  And the winds are just whipping around out there. Dennis came in from painting the place and said it was so hot his paint was drying in the bucket!  I am sort of confined to the house as the live oak trees are pumping out their pollen full force just now.  Without the wind, I can tolerate some time outside without getting the itchiest eyes imaginable but today is a bad time for me to be outside. Tomorrow promises to be much cooler after this front passes through.

 I have found lots of little things inside to do today.  It is countdown time now.  Twenty more days and it will be migrating time again! Time to take down the winter lodge poles and pack up once again.  How much work it must have been for the Indian tribes as they went from winter quarters to their summer hunting grounds.  And I think I have it hard!   Maybe after church tomorrow I will start on inventorying the closet.  I have been trying to shop all the thrift shops this year for things I could leave here, saving the space and hassle of bringing so many clothes back and forth.

 I took inventory of our food cupboards today and pulled out a few things that should be used up. Checked the 'use by' dates on things, etc.  Then made a cake, a pumpkin poppy seed bunt cake that has just a drizzle of glaze instead of lots of frosting.  We will see how that came out tonight when cousin Natalie and hubby Jerry come over for dessert.  It is their 50th Anniv. today!  So we will have some cake and ice cream.  They head home to VT tomorrow after a six week stay at their place here in Sunshine Village. We had a great time together while they were here.

Me, Janice and Natalie, lunch at the Flea Market.  Our idea of a great time!!

I missed the Art Show today in Leesburg, an event I usually make a point to attend.  Just too windy!  We did have a nice outing on Thursday.  Went out to lunch to celebrate early, Nat and Jerry's anniversary.  Ate at the Red Lobster on the way to visit our niece, Jackie and her family about an hour away from here.  It was great seeing them and chatting with grand niece, Amanda who is the author of two published books.  She writes under the name of Hazel West.  Quite an accomplished author for one so young.  She is very interested in the history of Scotland and has done lots of research on her favorite subject.  Her books sell on Amazon.  

Amanda, aka Hazel West with Jerry, a new reader of her latest book,
'The Ballad of the Highwayman'

As a Post Script:   The cake was pretty good.  Nat and Jerry left early to get the last of their packing finished and be off early in the morning.  I guess I will crash on the couch and see what the TV has to offer.  I think we have a good movie to watch.  I will be asleep soon as I get all cozy anyway!  You sleep well and have pleasant dreams.